## Chapter 805: The Hunter of the Wild Hunt (Requesting Monthly Passes)
Adolf paused his magic staff slightly as he looked at the suddenly quiet Count Leipzig, then resealed the window.
“…Using earth-element mana for a Winter Envoy’s spell is proving to be a bit too demanding, isn’t it?” Adolf furrowed his brow slightly.
It took so long to freeze… If it had been a Petrification Spell, Count Leipzig would have turned to stone in an instant.
The old man commanded, “Take it away, upstairs.”
As he gave his orders, many undead appeared behind him, responding with laughter. They frolicked merrily in places the old man couldn’t see.
At this moment, the old man in the black robe suddenly looked towards a corner.
There, Alistair, riding a Ghost Pegasus with noticeably pale skin, gradually materialized.
She was currently using Beyad’s body – she had to pay with her life force for Lily and Selene, and compared to Alistair herself, Beyad’s body, as an adult, possessed much more robust vitality.
Alistair exhaled a plume of white mist, looking at the ice sculpture surrounded by the undead with a touch of curiosity as she asked, “Who is that?”
“Count Leipzig, quite famous, I believe. But no need to concern yourself with him,” Adolf replied casually, his brow furrowed as he sized up Alistair in Beyad’s appearance.
He adjusted his glasses and stared for a good while before recognizing her with a mix of guesswork and insight, “Alistair?”
“It’s me,” Alistair smiled. “Did you not recognize me because of my changed appearance?”
“…There are still some similarities. Both are flesh and blood vessels of souls.” Adolf relaxed, feigning nonchalance, “At least both have black hair, green eyes. And both are Children of the Moon…”
“You seem to be a bit face-blind,” Alistair commented.
“Heh, how could that be? I have a professional rank on the Path of Beauty. My sketches in my younger days were highly praised in the Star Antinomy art world…” Old Adolf sounded quite proud when he mentioned this.
“Star Antinomy has an art world?” Alistair was surprised. It wasn’t sarcasm; she genuinely hadn’t heard of many artists in Star Antinomy – artists from the neighboring Iris Kingdom were quite famous, however.
“There are quite a few, actually. It’s just that Star Antinomy’s artists are usually found in the Spirit Tower,” Adolf chuckled. “Either as mentors, or students… or corpses, or spirits.”
They exchanged a quiet gaze for a moment before Alistair realized that Vice Principal Adolf seemed to be trying to tell a bad joke.
Adolf cleared his throat and looked at Lily and Selene, “These two… they must be what you spoke of…”
“–The reincarnation vessels for the Grey Heavenly Envoy.” Alistair turned serious. “Please, lead the way.”
“Worry not,” Adolf nodded, raising his staff and leading the horse-riding Alistair towards the elevator. “Teacher is already preparing the ritual. When you left, Teacher believed you would surely bring back the King of the Wild Hunt. And just now, as you arrived, the ritual had already begun its preheating.”
As he spoke, he glanced at the Ghost Pegasus beneath Alistair, a hint of hesitation and curiosity in his voice, “Is this… the King of the Wild Hunt?”
“Yes, my name is Helchin,” the Ghost Pegasus beneath Alistair suddenly spoke with a human voice. “But this is merely a form I use to conceal my strength.”
“…Helchin!” Adolf’s tone rose. “I’ve heard your name, an Elven hero!”
“Sigh… yes,” Helchin seemed to have more to say, but he swallowed his words and nodded his head, replying silently, “But now, I am merely… the Master’s attendant.”
“…Master?” Adolf looked at Alistair in astonishment. To have a Sixth Tier King of the Wild Hunt acknowledge someone as his master? Kings of the Wild Hunt were heroic souls who had made pacts with Great Philosophers. There was no contract in the world that could allow a mortal to forcibly restrain a King of the Wild Hunt! This meant that this could only be a voluntarily established master-servant relationship…
“Truly commendable. Miss Alistair possesses such great power… and I haven’t yet seen what the King of the Wild Hunt truly looks like.” Adolf’s voice was a mixture of regret and anticipation. “I hope to have the opportunity to witness it later.”
Alistair finally realized the old man was in good spirits. “This is my first time seeing an Extraordinary of the Twilight Path display such clear excitement and curiosity… Is it because Helchin is a Sixth Tier undead? I’ve heard you’re cultivating Sixth Tier undead.”
“No, that’s a different matter. This is about the Wild Hunt – I am extremely interested in the Wild Hunt.” Adolf’s voice rose slightly again. “That was a night that changed my life. It can even be said to be the starting point of my path into necromancy…”
As he spoke, the old man fell into reminiscence. Extraordinarys of the Twilight Path always seemed to favor recalling the past, the past being much clearer to them than the present:
“We have few priests in Star Antinomy, so there are more undead in the wilderness. My father passed away early, and by my teens, I was managing the family’s factory, running errands. On one occasion, to meet a deadline… I chose to depart at dusk. At a normal pace, I should have reached the outskirts of the next city before it became completely dark. Who could have imagined that we would be attacked by monsters in the wilderness… Although there were no casualties, the vehicle was damaged. The driver and guards warned me that staying out at night would lead to an undead attack, and demanded I abandon the vehicle and flee with them. But for me, that wagonload of printing slabs was already overdue… I had bought them with a loan from the Goblin Bank. If they were lost or damaged, I would face a hefty breach of contract fee. At that point… my younger siblings and I wouldn’t be able to afford tuition. In Star Antinomy, attending school is almost the only way for commoners to change their fate. My mind was racing… although it seems impulsive and foolish now, showing no consideration for how my mother and siblings would live without me. But I resolutely chose to live or die with this cargo. As a Second Tier ‘Artist’ at the time, with my brushes and printing materials, I was confident I could handle weaker undead. The result…”
“…You encountered a sea of undead?” Alistair guessed the turn of events. Many city dwellers were unaware that in the wilderness, undead often moved in hordes at night. The reason so few wandered into the fields on the city outskirts was actually due to the light of the churches, which could disperse the undead. Even churches without bishops had an inherent sanctity that would somewhat repel the undead. Conversely, if the undead were reluctant to approach cities with active churches before forming a significant number, where did they go? They were naturally driven to the desolate wilderness, far from the city lights.
“…I originally thought the most I’d encounter would be three or four undead. But the number turned out to be more than ten times that… The sheer chill they exuded when they appeared made me tremble uncontrollably, my fingers too unsteady to paint.” Adolf sighed. “I truly thought I was going to die there. Before I died, it suddenly dawned on me: if I died here… how would my mother and my siblings survive? None of them were Extraordinarys, nor did they inherit my father’s connections… – It was then I saw the Wild Hunt. Led by their King, they descended through the clouds, cut down those undead, and saved me. I was shivering uncontrollably from the cold, even experiencing hallucinations. Due to fear or the cold, I didn’t open the carriage door… and thus never saw the appearance of the King of the Wild Hunt. After that, I no longer had the time to chase after the Wild Hunt. It was also from that moment that I realized the undead weren’t that fearsome.”
“The King of the Wild Hunt of Star Antinomy…” Alistair recalled, “I remember he carried a plague aura, didn’t he? He seemed to be a knight from a border war who died from poisoning by an Alchemist… He should have been a noble from the Hrasal Empire.”
“…So it was a plague aura? No wonder I fell gravely ill when I returned. I thought it was due to the undead…”
“Did you never look for him again after that?”
“Busy. And he’s hard to find.” Adolf sighed. “Whom the King of the Wild Hunt saves and whom he kills is purely a matter of mood and luck. Even having reached the Fifth Tier, I wouldn’t be confident of surviving his killing intent. Now I’m almost… I had originally planned to seek out the King of the Wild Hunt who saved me that year, once I handed over all my affairs. Even dying by his hand wouldn’t matter. That would likely be my last chance to see the King of the Wild Hunt.”
“No wonder you’re so interested in the King of the Wild Hunt,” Alistair smiled. “You’ll be seeing him soon.”
As they chatted, the elevator ascended to the top floor. However, it was still empty. The Lich was still preparing the ritual and had not come to greet them.
“Oh, right. One more thing…” Adolf suddenly remembered. “Count Leipzig, it seems, was looking for you. He said you were Red Phase’s lover… Is there any truth to that?” Like every other Twilight Path adapter, he remembered things from the distant past clearly but tended to forget recent events.
“Huh?” Alistair blinked, then a surge of indignant anger welled up within her. “I’ve never even met him and his father!” Who are you? Are you worthy? Her combative spirit immediately flared up – Alistair felt both the disgust of being the target of a pervert as a woman and the disgust of being objectified by a lecherous gay man as a man. And the most terrifying part was that Red Phase Pomanach was likely both.
“I thought so too, so I turned him away for you,” Adolf casually dismissed “freezing Count Leipzig” as “turning him away for you.” However, he cautiously added, “Though that Count mentioned… Red Phase Pomanach might be coming to the Spirit Tower later. Unlike Count Leipzig, he’s a truly significant figure. He’s not much weaker than the Principal.”
“…In this heavy snow?” Although Alistair frowned at the snow disaster caused by the Winter Envoy, she knew its weakening effect on Children of the Moon was far greater than on ordinary people. For ordinary people, it was just heavy snow that muffled sounds. But for Children of the Moon, it was an extremely unfavorable environment – their essence was not much different from Winter Demons.
“Shall I block him for you?” Adolf offered solicitously.
“…No need. When he arrives, I’ll speak with him personally,” Alistair narrowed her eyes and said in a low voice. Adolf was certainly no match for Red Phase Pomanach – the first-generation Red and Black Phases were at least capable of fighting descending Heavenly Envoys once they reached the Sixth Tier. It was only the crucial missing grade that allowed them to be suppressed by Heavenly Envoys. Even so, no Fallen Heavenly Envoy had dared to trouble them. If Adolf were to try and stop him, this old gentleman might be in danger… Even in this heavy snow, Pomanach’s power remained unfathomable. And at that time, Alistair’s King of the Wild Hunt would be used as a vessel to carry the consciousness of the Grey Heavenly Envoy. This meant Alistair wouldn’t be able to switch her currently fighting Beast of Sin… After the procedure, they would have a Sixth Tier King of the Wild Hunt appear out of thin air. Rather than a direct confrontation, it was better to have Alistair talk to stall for time. If Alistair was not mistaken, the “acquaintance” Pomanach mentioned should be the Shadow Demon Beyad – Pomanach had mistaken her identity.
And conveniently, he was an old man from before the Hrasal Empire’s dissolution. Alistair had a question regarding Beyad. Eivass had once consulted the guardian spirit Diomedes during his Ascension Ritual. He had said that before the empire disintegrated, the first Moriarty had made a deal with the Beyad family of the empire. The specifics of that deal were unknown… but the Moriarty family’s curse was signed by the Beyad family. The Shadow Demon himself was unaware of this, but Red Phase Pomanach might know more details.
At this moment, the Lich Grunewald finally materialized. “The ritual is prepared,” his hollow, echoing voice announced. “Please follow me.”
“Ah, Teacher…” Adolf greeted the first-generation Black Phase who emerged from the void and informed him about freezing Count Leipzig and the potential arrival of Pomanach.
“It matters not,” Grunewald said calmly. “Let him come. Do not fear, child. – This is my domain.”
(End of Chapter)
