The Vastness of Magical Destiny
Chapter 692: Volume Nineteen: Lost Horizon - Twenty: Self-Defilement

Chapter 692: Volume Nineteen: Lost Horizon Chapter Twenty: Self-Defilement

Xifnos Island is situated at the edge of the Southern Mediterranean and the Storm Ocean. Due to its proximity to the Storm Ocean, the wild, humid easterly winds collide with the cool, pleasant westerly winds in this area, creating a climate that is complex and changeable. To the west, one can enter the throats of the three major bays of the Southern Mediterranean, with the Moria Peninsula and Sisonia Peninsula embracing the bays like two enormous pincers.

Komer was fond of this unique location. Although geographically it indeed posed some dangers, the threats Komer actually faced were singular, namely the Demisheme Pirate Group. Neither the Carter Fleet nor the Collins City-state Alliance Navy posed a danger; Komer had no intention of disregarding the sovereignty of Tilo City-State. After gaining Katrina’s recognition, Komer planned to acquire ownership of the island through redemption. To Tilo City-State, whose main business was maritime trade, this somewhat remote island was more of a burden. Both the Demisheme Pirates and the Carter Fleet were fears they could never dispel. If a good price could be obtained, they wouldn’t mind transferring the sovereignty of the island.

Komer didn’t rush to make contact with Caucasus and Leon. In his view, as long as Puber was still there, the policies he had set would not change significantly. Komer had always been curious about why the legend of his adventures on the Mang Continent had spread, but since even Rebury had disappeared, it proved to be a scheme of the Church of Light.

After much consideration, Komer concluded that the Church of Light was currently not on good terms with the Kingdom of Nicosia or with Homer and needed to justify their claim of being remnants of the Dark Forces without any proof.

Rebury alone proved nothing. If they tried to use Rebury’s behavior to prove their point, they risked implicating the Church itself. In such a case, it was better to ambiguously use an inexplicable legend to cover things up; after all, it couldn’t be verified. To the members of the Court, they probably thought Komer was already banished to some Different World, never to return. Rumors with no possibility of validation were most suitable for this.

Now, Komer’s primary goal was to secure ownership of Xifnos Island. Although Katrina had already approved, to actually establish a maritime force of his own here, it was essential to gain the recognition of the true masters of the island—the Tilo People.

Tilo City-State was a member of the Corinth City-state Alliance, which originated from the Tilo Alliance. However, as the city of Tilo declined and the city of Corinth rose, the second city-state union of the Southern Mediterranean was renamed the Corinth City-state Alliance due to its convening in Corinth.

When Komer, as a SuSoer Merchant from the Northern Continent’s inland, proposed to obtain Xifnos Island as a transshipment warehouse in the Tilo City Council, the request was almost unopposed and was promptly approved. 300,000 gold coins were neither large nor small for Tilo City, but for an island of little worth like Xifnos, it felt to the Tilo People as if they had picked up 300,000 gold coins for nothing. To them, the foreign merchant seemed like a fool who couldn’t be cheated enough, planning to use Xifnos Island as a transshipment warehouse between the Mang Continent and the Southern Mediterranean. The Carter Fleet and the Demisheme Pirates could tear everything of this fool to shreds within an hour.

Komer had been worried that someone would see through his intentions, but he soon realized he was unnecessarily anxious. The Carter Fleet may have been considered a principled bandit within the Corinth City-state Alliance, but those Demisheme were undoubtedly out-and-out ruffians, and their unpredictable movements left the mighty navy of the Corinth City-state Alliance helpless.

Apart from their fear of being trapped in the Southern Mediterranean by the pincer-shaped position of the Moria Peninsula and the Sisonia Peninsula and thus not daring to easily enter the three bays, the Demisheme Pirates had almost become a nightmare for the people living along the periphery of the Southern Mediterranean and the coastline of the Storm Ocean. Xifnos Island was undoubtedly a small snack in front of Demisheme, and no one had ever thought someone would choose it as a storage location. Komer, the fool from SuSoer, had the wild idea to use it as a storage site for material transshipment—a mad venture even with the blessing of the Carter Fleet, who could not possibly focus on this fringe area.

However, these concerns were not for the Tilo People to consider. What mattered most to the City’s Financial Officer was to expedite the transfer of sovereignty of Xifnos Island. If the fool realized he had been deceived and regretted it, the deal, equivalent to free money, would fall through.

The Notary Office of the Collins City-state Alliance completed the transaction with unprecedented efficiency. The sum of 300,000 gold coins was transferred from Carter Fleet’s secret account to a new account opened by Komer at the Central United Bank. Within less than three days, it was again transferred into the Finance account of Tilo City-State. Xifnos Island became Komer’s personal territory. According to the customary rules of the Mediterranean region, Xifnos Island and the waters within ten sea miles around it now belonged to Komer. Of course, Komer had registered it under the name of the merchant Karadin from Susoer.

Mihailovich and Newman began to feel some irritation about Komer, who had been missing for over a month. Although they did not quite believe that Komer would just vanish so easily under the pressure of the Court, the reality before them was such. They could not believe the absurd explanation given by the Court, that Komer had gone adventuring in the Mang Continent, but they found no evidence to refute it. Where exactly had Komer gone with Rebury? This question had become the root of the situation affecting the entire political climate in Caucasus and Leon.

Mihailovich and Newman, like Solonberg and Vladimir Koff, were not willing to leave Caucasus, but they, unlike people such as Maha Gummi and Fran, were Mages and Magic Knights. They had their pursuits. Though they enjoyed Komer’s company and were willing to serve him, it did not mean they wished to pledge allegiance to Caucasus.

In their view, maybe Puber was more adept at dealing with the daily affairs of the territory compared to Komer, but he lacked a certain charismatic personality that attracted them. As pursuers of Magic Heaven and Martial Dao, their desires for worldly possessions were far less than others. They needed a comrade who could inspire a resonance in their hearts, and clearly, Puber was not that person.

For people like Fran, Baoling, Maha Gummi, and Dragumo, Komer’s disappearance was like a bolt from the blue. Fran and Baoling had long regarded Komer as a monarch they could serve for life, while a group of Half-Beastmen officers, including Maha Gummi and Dragumo, were more blunt and direct. They only wished to acknowledge Komer as their master, willing to do anything for him. Now, this reality, which they absolutely could not accept, was unfolding before them, leaving them at a loss for how to deal with it.

Perhaps among this group, the ones who exhibited more calm, aside from the Dark Forces led by Xerob and Uma, were administrative officers like Puber and Neptune. Regardless of what happened to Komer, Caucasus and Leon had to survive and develop in accordance with the policies established by Komer. Although they also firmly believed that Komer would not vanish into thin air, what mattered more at the moment was to maintain the normal functioning of these territories.

Eve and Grace were plunged into a chaotic state of confusion and sadness. Before Komer’s disappearance, they had not realized how important he was in their lives. But after Komer truly vanished, they found that life around them had suddenly become so lifeless; even the sunlight outside the window seemed too pale and powerless. Eve even discovered that she had lost the passion for her most enthusiastic pursuit—preaching. What on earth had happened to this world?

When Lome received Komer’s magical transmission, her body almost completely collapsed. For over a month, she had blindly, even obsessively, believed that the Great Sage would suddenly appear in her life. Although the Mages, including Mihailovich and Newman, were questioning whether the Caucasus Lord might have been secretly detained or exiled by the Court, Lome stubbornly believed that the Great Sage would never disappear from her life without a trace.

With the lamp in her heart flickering, Lome held steadfast to her faith through the heart-soul connection with Komer. As long as that thread of connection in her heart was not completely severed, Lome firmly believed that the Great Sage had only left temporarily due to special reasons, and he would return sooner or later.

(To be continued. For the subsequent developments, please visit WWW.CMFU.COM. There are more Chapters available. Support the author. Support authorized reading!)